Learning Letter

Hannah Beloved

03-21-17

 English 493 Learning Letter

Dr. Sean Agriss 

Dear Dr. Sean Agriss,

I am shocked of how fast this quarter went by. We covered so many valuable things to learn from over the course of the last ten weeks. We have posted several blogs and had great class discussions regarding the many texts we read over the last ten weeks. A few of my favorite pedagogy books we read this quarter were Cris Tovani’s  I read it, but I don’t get it, and Kelly Gallagher’s Readicide. I found that these two books have given me great ideas on how to teach literature effectively in my future classroom. I really loved how personal both authors are in their writing and give examples of what they have researched and practiced in their own teaching. I especially love that fact that both authors include worksheets that we can use throughout both of their books. I will definitely be keeping both of these books as tolls for me to refer back to when I start student teaching and eventually get my first teaching job. After reading each book we were able to spend most of our class period discussing each text as a seminar discussion. I really learned so much from my classmates during these discussions. I enjoyed looking at the different perspectives each of my classmates had on several of the readings we completed in this class. I also really loved being able to read the different posts my fellow classmates posted about the reading. Often times I read many of the posts before class so I could prepare my self for each seminar.  I thought that being able to discuss each reading that was assigned to us in a seminar format is something I want to include in my classroom. I think students definitely benefit from participating in discussions because it allows students to have informal conversations of same book read by each of their classmates. I actually loved this teaching idea so much; I had my students in my practicum placement participate in a seminar discussion for my observed lesson.

Another task each of us accomplished this quarter was introducing a young adult book of our choice to share with the class. I found this very helpful as a future teacher in brainstorming different books I would want my students to read. There was only one book talk out of the whole class where I had actually read the book my classmate was presenting on. Many of my classmates introduced me to several texts that sound so interesting to me and while they were presenting I wrote down each book that I want to read over the summer. Personally, I really enjoyed the book talks because not only did each person explain a brief synopsis of the text but we all included examples of how we could use this text in out own classroom. So many of the possible teaching strategies I listened to were outstanding ideas that I also jotted down for future reference. I enjoyed being able to choose the text I wanted to share with the class because most of the time students are just assigned books to read with no choices to choose from. I also thought having book talks in my own classroom would be a great teaching strategy to incorporate my own classroom. This gives students a choice in what they read, and allows them to read different books that interest them. This also allows students to share with classmates what they find interesting allowing ach student to introduce their classmates to several different books. 

The three-week unit plan was a huge project to accomplish in the 10 short weeks of the quarter.  I am grateful that I was able to work with Kinzi because I believe two brains work better than one. We collaborated and bounced many ideas off each other of how we wanted to tackle this unit plan. In reflection I believe that we created a unique but effective unit plan for sixth grade students.  We spent countless hours on this project, and to be honest I am so thankful that we are finished. We both realized how much time, effort, and energy, teachers put in outside of the classrooms to ensure that their students receive the best education that they can provide. Before embarking on this project I was clueless as to how long writing 15 ED TPAS would actually take. All in all I am thankful that I was assigned to create this unit plan because now I feel confident in writing ED TPAS. I am now familiar with what Pearson will be looking for when I turn in my own personal ED TPA next spring. Looking back on choosing the topic for the unit plan, I wish I had chosen a topic more appropriate for the age of students I am working with in my practicum. If I had done that I could possibly used this lesson plan in my practicum or in my future classroom. However, I feel confident in creating a three-week unit plan so if I wanted to create my own three-week unit plan I have the knowledge and capability of doing so. 

Another big project that each student participated in this quarter was teaching a 20-minute mini-lesson on one of the texts required in this course. Not only did I learn from what I taught but I also learned from how my classmates taught their lessons. I found that this was more never racking than actually teaching a lesson in front of my practicum students. However, after teaching the lesson I felt good about what I did to prepare and accomplish the lesson. I received great feedback after on what I did, what I did well and what I can do better next time. Overall, teaching a 20-minute mini-lesson was a great way for me to continue mastering skills to become a better teacher.

After having participated in this course I feel I have gained so much knowledge on what I can do with my future students to provide them with a great education. I have learned so much from all of the pedagogical texts we read and will continue to reference them throughout my career. I believe this course has provided me with several tools in becoming a great teacher.  

Sincerely, Hannah Beloved